Bears balancing act: Brandon Marshall production vs. distractions

Could the Bears move on from Brandon Marshall? His 2015 salary doesn't guarantee until March 12.

Brandon Marshall made a brief appearance in the suite of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during Super Bowl XLIX and now is the time to wonder if the wide receiver will be seen at Halas Hall when the new league year begins.

The Bears are locked into Jay Cutler for $15.5 million in 2015 unless they unexpectedly swing a trade for the quarterback. But the club has a decision to make when it comes to Marshall, who is coming off a drama-filled season in which he got paid $15 million.

Marshall went on "The View" to sign a three-year extension last May and was in front of the camera for much of the season, making regular trips to New York on Tuesdays for appearances on Showtime's "Inside the NFL." But the Bears new management group and coaching staff has an out from the deal if it wants.

Marshall is due a base salary of $7.5 million for this coming season and according to language in the contract, it becomes fully guaranteed if he's on the roster on the third day of the league year — March 12. That gives the team a five-week window to move on if it desires.

The extension former general manager Phil Emery gave him paid Marshall $15 million in 2014. The contract includes a $200,000 workout bonus for this coming season meaning the Bears can save $7.7 million in cash if they release him.

Marshall turns 31 next month and is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he produced 61 receptions for 721 yards with eight touchdown receptions. That's not worth $7.7 million but he is a five-time Pro Bowl performer and put together seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons before 2014. He had a career-high 118 catches for 1,508 yards in 2012, his first season with the Bears.

The team isn't going to be strapped for salary cap space so the Bears would not part ways with Marshall to create more flexibility. If the Bears cut Marshall, they would create $3.95 million in cap savings for 2015 as he would count $5.625 million in dead money and be off the books in 2016.

But again, a decision on Marshall isn't going to be based on cap ramifications. It is going to come down to whether or not general manager Ryan Pace, coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who was Marshall's position coach for a time with the Broncos, want to balance the production Marshall delivers vs. the distractions.

Marshall arrived for a bizarre 40-minute news conference in Week 3 with handouts, diving into his past history with domestic violence. He caused a ruckus in the locker room after a loss to the Dolphins when he was overheard yelling at kicker Robbie Gould. He separately challenged a Lions fan and Lions center Dominic Raiola to fights via Twitter. He also dumped on Cutler when the quarterback was benched in one of his regular appearances on WMVP-AM 1000, saying "I'd have buyer's remorse, too" in regards to the quarterback's contract.

It's taboo for players to react publicly to other player's contracts but Cutler chalked up Marshall's comments to Brandon being Brandon. Reality is that's not going to change because the front office and coaching staff have. Marshall talks about football being his platform and not his purpose but it's the only purpose the Bears are paying him for and the man who signed the contract, Emery, is out of the picture.

The Bears have a similarly big-bodied wide receiver in Alshon Jeffery and the second-round pick from 2012 will enter the final year of his rookie contract eligible for a new deal. Jeffery, 24, had 85 receptions for 1,133 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. What the roster lacks is speed at the position and maybe Pace, Fox and Gase will look to mix up the depth chart with some quick and shifty receivers like Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, who Tom Brady used to lead the Patriots over the Seahawks' No. 1-ranked defense in Sunday's Super Bowl.

The ideal might be to pair a big wide receiver with a faster and quicker receiver like Randall Cobb, Antonio Brown or Emmanuel Sanders, who Fox and Gase used this past season with the Broncos in tandem with Demaryius Thomas, a larger 6-foot-3 target. Sanders is fast and possesses great change of direction, something you can't say about any Bears receivers.

Opponents were sitting on routes in 2014 because they knew what the Bears were going to do coming off an explosive 2013. Opposing defensive backs knew Marshall and Jeffery were not going to run by them. Marshall is a big, physical, strong receiver who has taken a lot of hits. He missed the entire 2013 offseason after the third hip surgery of his career. He is meticulous in how he maintains his body and that is what he uses to gain separation and leverage.

Given the state of the defense, the Bears should be very careful if they are considering shedding any productive offensive players. But intangible problems of last season can't be disregarded either. If Pace and Fox have a new vision for how the Bears wide receivers should line up, they have the ability to begin change without being on the hook for Marshall.